PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is a long-term mental health condition that affects people who have witnessed or experienced a traumatic event. PTSD symptoms can be debilitating to the mind, and ultimately devastating to your quality of life. Unfortunately, because of the nature of military service, Veterans are uniquely predisposed to…
You’ve been waiting for months to qualify for VA disability benefits, and then you get the news: the VA has denied your claim. The VA denies around 30% of disability claims each year. It can be frustrating to learn that your claim for VA compensation was denied. You may feel…
Many Veterans develop hearing disorders or some form of hearing loss while in the military, regardless of their branch of service. This is likely attributable to the constant training near loud equipment, whether that be at the shooting range or while performing specific tasks related to your MOS. However, one…
When an urgent medical condition arises, your first thought should always be about getting yourself the medical help you need as soon as possible. Although many Veterans can access emergency care through the VA, sometimes a VA Medical Center is too far away. However, this does not mean a Veteran…
Agent orange has been widely condemned for the common disabilities and illnesses linked to exposure. Veterans who served in Vietnam or within 12 nautical miles off the coast, in the Korean Demilitarized Zone, or at Thailand Military Bases may have been exposed to the dangerous herbicide. One illness, Chronic B-cell…
One commonly misunderstood area of VA disability involves the way the VA combines individual ratings, especially in relation to the bilateral factor. When a veteran has two or more service connected disabilities, each unique disability gets its own rating or percentage of disability. One might think that the VA would…
Background: Suicide among the Veteran community remains a significant issue. People getting out of the military are at the highest risk of suicide in the year after they leave — about 1½ to two times as likely to kill themselves as those still on active duty. The overall risk of suicide for…
Finding Help after Service Disabled Veterans face many different issues as they try to find their place in the world after their military career ends. Wounds carried from service to the civilian world can affect them in many ways, whether the wounds are visible or not. It can affect their…
Deluca v Brown The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided a case on April 3, 2018 that changed how the VA decides claims based solely upon pain. Before that case, pain that was reported was often ignored in VA claim by Veterans. This is true, even…
by Cameron Kroeger, Attorney at Law and US Air Force Veteran Vietnam The Agent Orange Act states if a service member set foot in the Republic of Vietnam during the war, there is the possibility that they were exposed to herbicide agents. This means the Veteran may be presumptively service…